After months of hard training, the Menchville Cross Country teams competed in their Regional Meet with an opportunity to race at the State Meet on the line.

The Regional Meet was held on October 30th at William and Mary University and eight different schools were represented, including Gloucester, Granby, Maury, Nansemond River, Norview, Kecoughtan and Woodside. Each of the schools were required to bring ten runners from each gender to the meet, with seven actually competing and three serving as alternates. In order to move on from the Regional Meet and make it to the State Meet, a team had to finish in the top three of their region.

Representing the girl’s team at the Regional Meet were Alyssa Ware (9), Nouela Limon Duparcmeur (10), Rita Ramirez (11), Kassey Daughtery (10), Elizabeth McElfresh (10), Taylor Wilson (12) and Raquel Manadero (11), with Audrey Franklin (11), Julia Silverman (10) and Anje Klompenhouwer (9) as alternates. The girl’s team qualified for the State Meet by finishing in second place in the region, led by Alyssa Ware, Nouela Limon Duparcmeur and Rita Ramirez who all finished in the top 15 for the girl’s race.

The boy’s team was represented by Johnny Crain (11), Jack Gorton (10), Tristan Klompenhouwer (10), Kiko Duran (11), Jaxon Kirsch (10), Preston Wilkinson (12) and Dominic Cogswell (11), with Matthew Swanenburg (11), Gavin Monteith (11) and Suber Jones (12) as alternates. The boy’s team did not qualify for the State Meet, as they finished in fourth place. Johnny Crain and Jack Gorton both qualified as for individuals for the State Meet. Crain was one spot away from earning a medal, as he came in 4th place overall and Gorton finished in 13th.

Now, with the Regional Meet behind them, a select few runners will continue to train for the State Meet on November 13th, while the rest begin to shift their focus towards the Indoor Track season.